New development rises in West Harlem

A project designed to transform the once-abandoned industrial west side of Harlem continues to rise, bringing a mix of office space, retail and social services to the neighborhood.

Janus Property Company is constructing the Manhattanville Factory District, a sprawling development along Amsterdam Avenue between 125th and 128th Streets.

At a recent Upper Manhattan Committee Meeting of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Scott Metzner, founder and principal of Janus Property Company, reported that the first two phases of the project – The Mink Building, a five-story red brick structure, and The Sweets Building – are now complete and fully-leased.

Metzner said that the buildings are populated by a mixture of nonprofits, tech companies, state offices and a biotechnology incubator.

Phases III and IV of the project – the state-of-the-art 340,000-square-foot Taystee Building and 185,000-square-foot Malt House – are currently under development. Metzger said the development will ultimately be tied together through a string of mid-block landscaped passageways and courtyards.

“Harlem originally developed as a bedroom community,” Metzner said. “One of our goals is to have a place where there are more activities during the day.”

At the REBNY meeting, held at Harlem Besame Restaurant, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer gave an update on the city’s proposal to rezone East Harlem and reported that she did not support the plan as currently devised. Among other concerns, Brewer said the plan fails to specify the affordability levels of planned low-income housing and lacks preservation provisions for landmark sites.

She said the rezoning is targeted for an area that is “hemorrhaging affordable housing and rapidly gentrifying.”

“It’s important that new developments be done intelligently,” said Moses Morales.

“Residents are really scared about being able to remain in their neighborhood and homes,” she stated.

Moses Morales, a real estate agent with Bohemia Realty Group, grew up on the Lower East Side and remarked that he has seen first-hand what gentrification can do to a neighborhood.

“People who have been here might wonder will they be able to afford to live here,” he said. “It’s important that new development be done intelligently.”

“Harlem is authentic and it’s important to keep that,” remarked Terri Wisdom, co-owner of Besame Restaurant. “People come here from everywhere and that’s a very significant thing.”